Subscribe

Subscribe to my blog

Nature

08/03/2017

The garden that I nurture peaks in August and September. The month of June and July are ornamental enough, to the casual observer, it's probably lovely. But truthfully, August 1st is like turning on the "GO LIVE" switch. Peak hours are 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM, at that early morning hour there is still a heady fragrance and the bats are flying low.

This year, this summer is shaping up to be the best ever. For three months I have boiled Romaine lettuce for my gray tree frog babies. The water containers, large and small are full of tadpoles, a second brood is leaving the womb, seeking higher ground. With the water bowls that get too hot, I have rigged up covers to keep the water temperature down. So successful are these efforts that I am sure my summer nights will be delightfully noisy, these are the night's trilling frogs with the occasional barking sound. No one has been able to explain the random barking call, which may sound more like a sea otter's yelp. Their ability to go from tadpole to frog happens so fast with a body shape that still resembles a tadpole, yet their tale oddly absorbed, tucked in somehow.

If that weren't enough, the tomato hornworms devoured my nicotiana, hoards of them. Now they also awaken, from cocoon to adult, ready to zip back and forth as the sun sets. Here I found a newly formed adult, wings still drying, the long proboscis coiled tight.

As always, it's nearly impossible to photograph them. I took a picture of an adult last night, the movement is fast, the sun is going down and the camera struggles. I know there will be plenty of hawk moths (maybe better photographs), plenty of frogs, the summer program will include bats eating moths and frogs eating mosquitos.

As the sun sets, great big tropical leaves are backlit, for a short fifteen minutes there is a magic light.

06/16/2016

Spring and early summer find the surrounds of my little house on a hill singing loudly at night. A series of trills puts me to sleep, the source is lots of small gray tree frogs. They gather at various watering holes, united in their desire to make babies.

As a gardener, and lover of nature, I keep water containers, five total, around my house. One is a horse trough, really serving the last chicken and three guinea fowl, but a gathering place for the tree frogs. Our native tree frog, or at least the most common species is Hyla versicolor, the species epithet for its ability to change colors.

When breeding season arrives, anytime from late April to July, the chorus is loud as males sing for their female audience. The lady frog listens intently, her mating choice will be the male with the loudest and most prolonged song. A pouch on the male's neck expands and deflates as he sings. If he spies a female, his notes become more melodious, he tries harder to sing the perfect tune.

There will be no fondling, she will lay her eggs in the water nearby and he follows, fertilizing them in place. Once eggs are fertilized, they break into loose clusters, attaching themselves to plants and sticks underwater. In six to eight weeks, the small green baby frogs arrive, transformed from tadpole to frog.

Adult gray tree frogs feed on insects and larvae, including mosquitoes and gnats. On dry land they feed on spiders and various insects such as beetles and ants. Tadpoles eat algae and other lower forms of plant life. The small frogs that emerge from the water containers are not even as large as my thumbnail, I imagine a tiny mite could be a big enough meal.

The range for the gray tree frog is enormous. From the middle of the United States to the east coast, north to southern Canada and south to northern Florida, we are in the middle of their north-south range. There are many interesting facts with gray tree frogs, their feet have toe pads which produce a mucus to help them cling to vertical services. The pattern on their back looks like lichen, a camouflage that also works with their ability to change colors. The calling of males is often how they are stalked by predators, particularly by bull frogs, so the population tends to be female dominate. They will not gather around water with fish, for obvious reasons. Green is the predominate color in younger frogs, but more mature frogs can alter their color, not as fast as a chameleon, but within 30 minutes.

I have put a mosquito targeted BT in my water with no ill effects. Also known as Bacillus Thuringiensis israelensis, a natural bacteria, it is eaten by mosquito larvae, which it kills. A safe and environmental approach which has not lessened my tree frog population.

05/12/2016

I drove through parts of the Shenandoah National Park yesterday. While it was raining down here, it was warm and sunny up there. The entire cloud bank was below, the park elevation rising well above. Many wondrous plants grow there and my eye is always trying to take in the herbaceous plants that occupy the space between the road and the forest. I look for changes in plant communities, as they alter with altitude and habitat. A new plant caught my attention, the truck halts, caution lights on, I MUST see. As it turns out this "new to me" plant is semi-parasitic, hosted by the roots of nearby grasses. Commonly known as Canadian lousewort or wood betony, botanical it's Pedicularis canadensis.

Not too far away was another parasitic plant. It's host are the roots of oak trees, it's common name is squaw root or bear corn, the latter because bear will feed on it as they wake up from hibernation.

This last native has been growing here on the farm. I noticed it several years ago, the unusual orchid leaf is unmistakable. This year I cleared the spot and waited. Four flower stalks grew and we have the putty root orchid or Aplectrum hyemale.

The common name comes from the sticky paste that comes out of the bulblike root, it can mend pottery! Considered a common orchid, this farm is relatively poor when it comes to native plants. I can absolutely say that the reason is logging. In the late 70's, with the death of my father-in-law, the wooded tracts were logged, done badly and greedily. Since I walk the farm with great regularity, I know where wildlife and wildflowers are more abundant. There is an area with two high ridges and a creek between, and this is where I find the largest concentration of both plant and animal life. There is a honeybee tree, various occupied tree holes, turkeys, deer (of course), box turtles, and once I found four baby foxes living in a hollow tree trunk.

As I've watched the local landscape turn into houses, I can't help but think of how many such microcosms of life have been obliterated. The last farm preceding ours (East on Route 50) is about to be flattened. The procedure is usually quick, a forest becomes a leveled muddy landscape in a matter of days. I'm in anguish over this next leveling as it's a very large tract of deciduous and evergreen trees. There is no doubt that it holds a wealth of wildlife since most of the local fauna have escaped to that tract to run from local construction. I feel like I'm the only one that wants to run in and save every turtle, possum, raccoon, etc... The poor animals won't be seen. They hide well. In the meantime most of them will be obliterated. I have a farm, I have great hope that some will make it here. I want this land to be preserved. It's my ultimate desire.

05/05/2016

At the end of January I found a dead coyote on the farm. Shot in the heart, it fell where it died. It's remained a mystery as to who killed it or why. Located in the middle of the farm at the edge of some woods, I would visit and photograph the remains a few times a week. Vultures came but seemed only slightly interested. The real breakdown came once the weather had warmed and carrion beetles arrived. Not only was fur and hide finally disappearing but there was a lot of action as the carrion beetles spent day and night mating on the carcass. My logical conclusion was that this giant meal (for a little bug), would provide the food for their young and this was the perfect time to procreate.

So last week as I was tending my garden, I noticed a plethora of aphids on spirea, something that seems to be a chronic problem, but one I ignore because nature takes care of it. Low and behold, there were lots and lots of ladybugs (or lady beetles, as some say), and once again they were mating.

The instinctive need to feed their young while food is available, no doubt. The larval form of ladybugs is actually the real aphid eater, even coined as aphid lions, well known for their ability to gobble them up.

The availability of food, especially when it's abundant, instinctively leads to sex for the sake of food for the babies . Once my mind grasp this simple concept, it seemed only rationale to follow it to spring when so many babies are born and food is more plentiful.

My biggest chuckle comes from the thought of prehistoric man, and woman. They kill a woolly mammoth, or some such giant beast, and find it's time to "make whoopee"! It's only natural.

01/11/2016

The opossum or possum is a very interesting mammal, and very common in Virginia, although originally from South America. Many things make them interesting, one of which is the game of "playing dead". It turns out that this is completely involuntary, like a person fainting. Triggered by something scary, a few things happen. In their incapacitated state, lips go back; showing teeth, they may foam at the mouth, their eyes close and a gland puts out a nasty odor which acts as the most convincing part of the play dead trick. All to convince any potential attacker that they're not worth eating.

For the gardener, they can be beneficial, eating bugs, mice, slugs, and other small rodents (like voles). Of late they've been touted as a great tick annihilator, killing them by just cleaning themselves or feeding on them in the wild. With their incredible immune system, they don't get Lyme disease, in fact they are immune to the venom of rattlesnakes (and a few other poisonous snakes). Only one in eight hundred will be affected by the rabies virus if bitten by a rabid animal.

Their life span is short, two to four years and the female will have two litters per year. The males travel from winter to summer, looking for a mate. Those hit by cars this time of year are mostly males.

As the only marsupial in North America, the gestation period for the young is only two weeks. The tiny babies are born and travel to the mother's pouch (not all make it), where they will live for two to three months. A female will become very burdened by her young, often hanging as a weight in the pouch beneath her, she can support up to thirteen babies. As she travels for food, it can be slow going, a bad time as many are hit by cars on nights in late spring and early summer.

At the height of spring at the plant farm (many years ago) a mother possum was hit on Route 50 and her young had traveled to our greenhouses. Fortunately a wildlife rehabilitator was there shopping, and they were gathered and boxed to go home with her. We ended up with nine babies.

There is actually a Opossum Society of the United States where you can find answers to lots of questions and misconceptions. I learned that they don't eat chickens and they're one of the harder animals to raise because of dietary needs. Call a wildlife rehabilitator if you find babies. And the "playing dead" trick may last up to four hours, watch for twitching ears prior to their waking up.

09/16/2015

I was in the garden early this morning and spied something that confused me. It was a mantis, the Carolina mantis to be exact, our native species. Much smaller in stature, generally with a gray, mottled camouflage. Probably half of the size of the larger, green, Chinese mantis. Their damage in the garden is not as wholesale, they don't eat as many butterflies (from my observations).

As it turns out, the female mantis has just finished mating with a male, the poor guy still on her back, but he is lacking a head.

07/23/2015

Every evening I turn on my string lights and sit in my garden. Last night I was not alone, a spring peeper had climbed onto my papyrus, waiting for a fly by dinner. As one might expect, I have plenty of moths coming to the lights and my night fragrant flowers, and I'm sure he had his eye on them. Although only 1 sphinx moth as of last night, a bit large for a spring peeper to catch and eat.

If you look close, you can see a mosquito on his thigh.

Considered small chorus frogs, I have them in many parts of the garden and they begin a chorus that bounces from one to the other. Each in turn. If one prematurely calls at the same time as another, the whole group begins anew. Round and round they go. You can always tell when it's a spring peeper, or Pseudacris crucifer, by the x on their back.

It's been a wonderful year, both from the standpoint of rain and temperatures. Like every other year, I ordered a collection of gladiolus. They are cheap and beautiful. And I love to photograph them.

My lovely Linaria triornithophora continues to put on a show, as does the climbing Clitorea ternatea.

The tuberoses are budded, the moon vine is scrambling and the acidanthera will lead the way into August. How can you not love summer?!

08/27/2014

While weeding my way through the garden I discovered monarch caterpillars, yay and yipee! Despite my repeated planting of Asclepias curassavica or the Mexican milkweed, I had not a one monarch baby last year, this year there's scads.

What this means is a cease and desist on any more weeding to protect larvae that have moved onto the chrysalis stage. From this generation, the fourth and last one to mature (in September), we will have the monarchs that fly to Mexico as adults and live over winter. Fortunately the Mexican milkweed will seed and volunteer itself, a good thing because I suspect that I will need every leaf to feed these hungry hoards.

08/06/2014

With the colder than average winter, I thought maybe some bug populations might be down. That was especially so when I saw the Japanese Anemone develop buds and maybe bloom after years and years of decimation by the blister beetle. Well, they're back!, and eating like there's no tomorrow.

Clematis are their other favorite and feeding occurs on the underside of the leaf, so it's often hard to find blister beetles. They can cause a blister if squashed on your skin but I will add that after years of dealing with them, I haven't ever been blistered.

The species that feeds here in Virginia is Epicauta funebris or the margined blister beetle. Not entirely bad, the larvae feed on grasshopper eggs. There are well over 350 species of blister beetles, many with red coloring and much nastier blisters. One of my favorite summer sports is snipping them with my clippers which is A: very difficult, therefore, B: fun. If you are really good and can snip their heads off, death seems to be instant, which is difficult when their usually hiding on the undersides of leaves. And I swear they do some kind of little beetle scream, warning the others because after the first one, it gets harder and harder. Their favorite survival technique (to avoid the snippers), is to drop to the ground. Based on this I developed my second favorite way to kill them, a bowl of water mixed with something a little caustic, like strong soap and slipped under the plant. If you just shake the plant, they drop. It's not possible to kill them all, but a reduction certainly helps out the other plants.

The other summer pest is sawfly. First appearing in late June, the larvae prefer to feed on mugo pines but will attack numerous other needled plants. The culprit is the European Pine Sawfly which is actually the larvae of a non-stinging wasp.

It's not unusual to have plants stripped in just a couple of days. I have found that June and early July is the first period to look for them and late summer is another. A very good product for treatment is anything that contains Spinosad, which is a bacteria that effects them and nothing else. Spray the needles that they will be feeding on rather than the larvae itself.

The colder winter did effect some bug populations, one of which is the stink bug. Unfortunately they are busy making up for the loss as I have seen lots of young ones. For that we need more answers!